United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Dr. Nath said that the damaged done to the nerves(which involve all 5) was just from the virus and not the fall in soccer and the body should be able to regenerate them on their own, so no surgery was recommended at this time. At least not nerve surgery. I had wondered if when he fell the week before his arm started this paralysis, that he may have stretched or turn one of the nerves. I am just not real clear on how they ruled this out??? He did recommend that if by the one year mark (Sept. 30) if no more improvements have been made that we should go in and scrape off any scar tissue that may have built up. And yes he did say that more than likely in the future that some type of muscle and/or tendon transfer will be needed. We will have to wait and see how much return he actually gets first.

I still am hoping to get into the Mayo clinic also though just for more confirmation that this is the best route for Drake. I am not for sure that the Doctors at Scottish Rite in Dallas are specialist but we are trying to get in to see them as well. The more opinions the better i think. How long does it take to hear back from the mayo clinic? I mailed all of his records last week, will they just call or email me, how do i know if they will see him?? Does anyone know?
Thanks for the help.
Drake's Mom
(Teresa!)

I think they called me when they had received Dustin's referrals. Then they sent us a schedule. I don't remember the time frame but think it was within a couple of weeks after the referrals were sent that they called.

Glad to hear it is only a from the virus and they hope for return. Dustin's was only stretch and they had also hoped for a natural return. Most of Dustin's has strengthened but we are still waiting on bicep, it's there but very weak so he's decided to go with the gracilis transfer as we have been doing therapy for 20 mos now.

If he had an EMG done by Dr Nath that should give a good indication if the nerves are firing and the muscles receiving signals. I'm assuming that is what he based his conclusion on although I don't know what tests he's run on Drake.
Sue

Teresa,
I'm glad you've gotten & getting your son to other specialists, I wish you both the best with all of this. As far as the Mayo goes, I have had a number of surgeries there and feel very fortunate to have ended up there. With appointments, I would call twice a week to see if they had any cancellations that I might jump into, when I had appointments that were scheduled too far down the road. It would always work out, usually 2-3 weeks wait instead of 2-3 months. That's my recommendation.

Good Luck,
Chris

Dr. Alan Bishop's appointment secretary is Genie ( 507-266-0537 ). She is very helpful and understanding in my experience.